Daily Archives: 3 June, 2012

National Revolutionary Martyr’s Shrine (Taipei City, Taiwan)

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After the Changing of the Guard ceremony at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial and photo ops at Liberty Square, we all returned to the van for our next destination, the 5,00 sq. m. National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine, dedicated to the war dead of Taiwan.  Built in 1969 on Chingshan Mountain, overlooking the Keelung River, our visit to the Martyrs Shrine again recalls the architecture of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in Beijing’s Forbidden City as the buildings on the site were skillfully crafted and designed to look like Ming Dynasty palaces.

Gate at National Revolutionary Martyr’s Shrine

The structure houses the spirit tablets of about 390,000 persons killed, among other engagements, during the Xinhai Revolution, the Northern Expedition, the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese Civil War and the First and Second Taiwan Strait Crises. It was also the site of the funeral of President Chiang Ching-kuo, the son of Chiang Kai-shek, on January 13, 1988.

The main sanctuary

Every March 29 (Youth Day, commemorating the Huanghuagang Uprising) and September 3 (Armed Forces Day) of every year, the country’s president  leads the heads of the five Yuans (branches of government) to pay their respects to the martyrs by bowing and offering incense.

One of the shrine’s pavilions

A changing of the honor guard (the last one at 4:40 PM), from the various branches of the military, similar to the rituals we saw at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, also takes place at the shrine (and at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall)  but it wasn’t going to happen a second time.  Soldiers who have the honor of being guards at these shrines must be 1.75-1.95 m. (5′-9″-6′-3″) tall, weigh at least 65 kgs. (143 lbs.), have, at least, a high school education, have no criminal record and have lots of discipline as they have to stand still, even under the scorching sun, for an hour.  The guards on duty at this shrine, with their gleaming steel helmets, shiny leather boots and blue uniforms, were from the Air Force, 2 posted at the main shrine and 2 at the main gate along Beian Rd..

Jandy and I posing with the guard on duty

Although the Martyrs Shrine is located in Taiwan, most of the soldiers honored served China and were born in Chinese provinces. The main sanctuary was modeled after the Taiho Palace in Beijing. Plaques, paintings and friezes in the arcade surrounding the main sanctuary describe the details of various 20th-century rebellions and battles. A bell tower and drum tower are used during memorial ceremonies. Next to the shrine is the 12-storey, 490-room Grand Hotel, one of the world’s tallest Chinese classical buildings.  It was designed by Taipei-based architect Yang Cho-Cheng and completed on October 10, 1973.

National Revolutionary Martyr’s Shrine: 139 Beian Rd., Shilin, Taipei, Taiwan. Tel: (+886-2) 2349 1635 and (+886-2) 2885-4162. Open daily (except Saturdays), 9 AM-5 PM. Admission is free.

How to Get There: take a taxi from Jiantan or Yuanshan MRT stations or take the free shuttle bus from Yuanshan MRT station to the Grand Hotel, then walk 15 mins. east, alons Bei-an Road (ask for directions at The Grand Hotel).

Grand Hotel: No. 1, Section 4, Zhōngshān North Rd., Jhongshan District.  Tel:
(+886-2) 2886-8888.  Website:  www.grand-hotel.org.

Chang Kai-shek Memorial Hall – Changing of the Honor Guard Ceremony (Taipei City, Taiwan)

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Soon the memorial was officially opened and we were led up to the main hall where a crowd of tourists were already gathered.  The hall’s main feature is the massive 3-storey high bronze statue of a smiling Chiang, in traditional Chinese dress, sitting on a  dais. An elaborate caisson is set into the ceiling  which is also decorated with the emblem of the Kuomintang (KMT).  Chinese inscriptions on the walls are the characters for Ethics, Democracy, and Science.

The bronze sitting statue of Chiang Kai-Shek

Five members of the Taiwan Marines , in immaculately white uniforms and helmets, were guarding the main hall with rifles with fixed bayonets. The branch of service represented here changes periodically according to a rotating schedule  (every 4 months).  The Army wears green uniforms, the Navy wears  black in summer and white in winter, and the Air Force wears blue.

The Main Hall’s ceiling

The much anticipated, impressively synchronized Changing of the Guards ceremony soon took place at the appointed time (it takes place every hour). At this formal, elaborate and precisely choreographed ceremony, the ceremonial guards are relieved by a new batch of sentries. This ceremony is also conducted at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and the National Revolutionary Martyr’s Shrine.

The Changing of the Guard ceremony

Chang Kai-shek Memorial Hall: 21 Zongshan South Rd., Section 1, Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan.  Tel: (+886-2) 2343-1100. Open daily, 9 AM-6:30 PM. Admission is free.

How to Get There: Take THSR or train to Taipei Station then transfer, via Taipei MRT, to Chiang Kaishek Memorial Hall Station.

Chang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Cultural Center (Taipei City, Taiwan)

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Liberty Square

From Tung Ho Zen Temple, we again boarded our van and went on our way to our next destination, the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, erected in memory of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887-April 5, 1975), Taiwan’s long-time leader.  Here, we were to observe the 9 AM Changing of the Honor Guard ceremony.

Presidential Office Building

Along the way to the hall, we passed the Neo-Renaissance-style Presidential Office Building, an elaborate red brick edifice built in 1919. It was already drizzling when we arrived at the Memorial Hall’s tremendous, 30 m. (98.4 ft.) high and 80 m. (262.4  ft.) high arched main gate  (which faces Chiang’s beloved China) – the Gate of Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness.

Gate of Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness

The main gate opened into Liberty Square with its grand vista reminiscent of my visit to Beijing’s Forbidden City, with the massive and ornate National Theater (on the south) and National Concert Hall (on the north) flanking it.  Both, completed in 1987, were modeled after the Forbidden City’s Halls of Supreme Harmony and Preserving Harmony and painted in the same brilliant Ming Dynasty style.

National Concert Hall

Added to it are immaculate grounds featuring lovely traditional Chinese sculpted gardens, miniature hills, an ornamental bridge, waterfalls and serene ponds (filled with colorful koi), truly a scene from the 1987 Bernardo Bertolucci classic film The Last Emperor.  The Gate of Great Loyalty also stands at the north side (along Xinyi Rd.) while the Gate of Great Piety stands at the south side (along Aiguo East Rd.).

National Theater

From the gate, we all walked along the Boulevard of Homage (bordered by manicured bushes), to the east end of the square where the magnificent, 76 m. (250 ft.) high 240,000 sq. m. memorial hall stands.  It has a marble facade and octagonal (the octagonal shape picks up the symbolism of the number 8, a number traditionally associated in Asia with abundance, wealth and good fortune), twin-eaved roof of brilliant blue tiles with red accents (echoing the flag of the Republic of China) crowned by a golden spur.

Chang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

The memorial’s design was based on the winning competition entry of the late, internationally renowned Chinese architect Yang Cho-cheng. Yang’s design incorporated many elements of traditional Chinese  architecture.  Started on October 31, 1976 (the 90th anniversary of Chiang’s birth), the hall was officially opened on April  5, 1980 (the fifth anniversary of the leader’s death). The hall has 2 sets of stairs, each with 89 steps, representing the age of Chiang Kai-shek at the time of his death. We didn’t climb the stairs. Instead we entered the hall via a huge doorway by the side of the stairs.

Jandy at entrance hallway

We arrived early, still minutes before the hall’s opening, so we first listened to Mr. Pang’s narrative of Chiang’s life.  Also at the ground floor is a museum with exhibit related to the late president’s life including his personal effects, photos, a mock-up of one of his offices and his bulletproof Cadillac.

Part of the ground floor museum exhibit

Chang Kai-shek Memorial Hall: 21 Zongshan South Rd., Section 1, Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan.  Tel: (+886-2) 2343-1100. Open daily, 9 AM-6:30 PM. Admission is free.

National Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center: Tel: (+886-2) 3393-9888.

How to Get There: Take THSR or train to Taipei Station then transfer, via Taipei MRT, to Chiang Kaishek Memorial Hall Station.

Tung Ho Zen Temple (Taipei City, Taiwan)

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Jandy and I woke up by 6:30 AM as our half-day city tour was scheduled this morning.  After our buffet breakfast at the Golden Ear Restaurant, we proceeded to the hotel lobby to await the arrival of our tourist guide, Mr. Pang of Edison Travel Service, who arrived by 7:45 AM.  We boarded a van and made short stopovers at 2 hotels to pick up Swiss couple Reto and Gabriella Conrad and Ms. Ishani Dave, a Marketing & New Product Development  Manager at Hannover Milano Fairs India Pvt. Ltd.

Tung Ho Zen Temple

The first item in the tour itinerary was a visit to the century-old Tung Ho Zen Temple, a Soto Zen monastery.  The temple was first started in 1908 and originally covered an area of 4,500 pings (14,850 sq. m.).  It then consisted of the Soto Zen Center, the Kuanyin Zen House, the Taipei Junior High School and the bell tower. The bell tower (designated a municipal historic landmark in 1997) and the Kuanyin Zen House are the only two remaining buildings in the area of the complex that has gradually shrunk to 700 pings (2,310 sq. m).

Interior of temple (in the foreground is the censer or incense urn)

The Kuanyin Zen House was renamed as Tung Ho Zen Temple in 1946, about the same time that the complex and the land it was built on were donated by the Japanese colonial owners to the temple’s former master, the Master Hsin Yuan.  Upon the death of  Hsin Yuan on March 1970, aged 89, the central government took over the complex a month later.

Interior of temple (at right, a devotee prays to the goddess Mazu)

Tung Ho Zen Temple: cor. Linsen South Rd. and Jenai Rd., Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan.